FEMALE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, RUNNER-UP: Tiffany Lim

Coming into the season ranked as the sixth-best freshman in the nation by Golfweek Magazine, Tiffany Lim immediately justified the lofty expectations in her first three collegiate tournaments.

Lim tied for first place at the Yale Invitational, finishing +2. The freshman won the Princeton Invitational with an even more impressive score of -3, and her score of +7 at the Nittany Lion Invitational was Harvard’s best, helping the Crimson to a ninth-place finish.

Lim had previously seen success throughout her pre-college career. She was named a 2010 Rolex Junior All-American and qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open in 2010.

This high level of achievement transferred over to Lim’s play in the Ancient Eight, where she was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

“She is really good at motivating the team to practice harder,” captain Christine Cho says. “She has put in a lot of time throughout the whole year with the team and the game. Her getting Rookie of the Year was no surprise.”

For Lim, practice included changing her technique mid-season.

“I worked really hard over the winter on some fundamental swing changes,” Lim says. “I was a little rusty coming out of the winter break.”

Even with what she said she believes was a tougher spring, Lim’s single-round score of 75 (+3) helped Harvard top Nova Southeastern during the team’s spring break trip. In both the Rebel Intercollegiate and the Roar-EE Invitational, Lim placed 14th with scores of +8 and +11, respectively.

Lim also contributed to the team achievement of winning the Ivy League Championships for the first time in three years. Lim played a vital role in the victory, coming in ninth place individually. She posted a total score of +25, with the single-round score of 78 (+6) being her best during the championships.

Lim capped off her breakout collegiate season by anchoring Harvard at the NCAA Central Regional with a 23rd-place finish.

“As a freshman, to play the way that she did is fantastic,” Harvard coach Kevin Rhoads says. “She was seventh of individuals that weren’t on the top eight teams, and she was only five shots out of qualifying for NCAA finals on her own.”

Lim and freshman teammate Brenna Nelsen will represent Harvard in a partner tournament this summer.

“I’ve started getting back into a competitive mode,” Lim says. “I think it’s going to show this summer and next year.”

—Staff writer Claire K. Dailey can be reached at ckdailey@college.harvard.edu.